Pretzelhead

Time for another podcast! This time Tsh is joined by cohost Hayley Morgan of The Tiny Twig. Who’s probably not so tiny as usual… she’s due any day with NUMBER 4. Her fourth BOY. The woman is a saint. (And who are we kidding? She’s totally still tiny.)

We moms are weird about our identity—whether we’re a mom of boys, whether or not we homeschool… Why are we like that? Let’s just be. Sound good? Awesome.

To combat the testosterone overload, Hayley painted her office pink:

And it’s not Pepto pink, it’s blush. Or bashful. Whatever it is, it’s not the color from Steel Magnolias.

Like this:

19 comments on “Pretzelhead”

Tsh I just want to say that I so love your blog and your podcast. It is a daily staple for me. I just want to comment on your discussion about having children and how far apart they are. It was mentioned that having children “far” apart can create challenges in facilitating sibling relationships and other family logistics. I so wanted to have a child every two years like “everyone” else, however infertility, a stillbirth and my current miscarriage have not allowed such perfect planning. Our son is 4 1/2. He will be much older than any sibling he may have. I would really be encouraged to hear some tips on how to foster relationships between siblings who are spaced far apart. If perhaps you felt led, you might even delve into the topic of infertility, loss and adoption. It would be encouraging to myself and other mommies out there who are still waiting to grow their families. Tsh thank you for what you do for moms.

I agree with Erin on this, great subjet. We too wanted our children 2 years appart. Like Erin, our fertility struggles and many pregnancy losses didn’t make that possible. Our boys are 5.5years appart because of this. Because we had so many issues having a viable pregnancy the second time around, we NEVER thought our 3rd would show up so early. I found out we were having our 3rd when our 2nd was only 4 months old. Since then, the 2 youngest ones have been inseparable, like twins almost and I really feel the eldest is being left out. We had that ”potty trained” freedom for a couple of years before having the other 2 and he is really missing the camping trips and cool stuff we did before his siblings were born. I don’t want him to resent them forever, but I want to include all 3 in family time and it’s very hard.

My mother struggled with infertility, but fortunately ended up with two children! My sister is 9 years older than I am, and we have always been so close. We are still best friends. Before I was born, she prayed for a sibling, and afterwards was such a huge help to my mom in taking care of me because she was older and more responsible. The other day at church I saw a boy who was about 9 or 10 holding his baby sister with such pride–so it’s not just girls who can be counted on to help with little ones. In that way it can be a huge plus to have an older more mature sibling around.

quick thought — public school funding is based on daily attendance. The more kids attend each day, the more money they get. that’s why they tell kids its important for them to attend and not miss school (whether it really benefits the kids or not)

Also, there is a direct correlation between kids who have poor attendance as early on as first grade and kids who drop out of school. From my experience as a former public school teacher in California most kids don’t have parents like your kids that are pulling them out of school for other enriching activities.

And my tree? Well, its a pre-lite artificial tree, so the lights are all white, but we are having a hard time just keeping the ornaments on the tree with a toddler boy and 2 kittens wanting to play with the tree. Luckily when it gets knocked over, its only 3 feet tall, but it does get ‘needles’ all over the place.

I totally resonated with so many topics discussed on this podcast! As an American mom of two living in Serbia, where my kids go to local preschool and speak Serbian all day, I can totally relate to that worry about US public schools. I’ve been thinking more and more about unschooling, because I want to create an educational environment but I want my kids to be social (that’s one thing they love about their preschool – playing all day, but of course they do activities, too). No one expects parents to volunteer here. Parents have to work! So yes, I think it will be a culture shock when we get back to California in the coming year … Laura

I loved the conversation about the tv show Parenthood. I tend to binge-watch it. Since it is so real and intense, I tend to let it pile up on my DVR until I feel like I can “handle” it, then I start watching and can’t stop!

As for Disney, my mom lives 45 minutes from Orlando, so we’ve been many times. Except when we only had one child, we’ve never taken a toddler, and even when we took our oldest at age two, he only stayed part of the day. I feel a little guilty leaving the baby behind until I get to the park and see screaming, cranky overtired, overstimulated tots being dragged around.:). I think that four is the absolute youngest that I’d want to bring a little one. On the plus side, though, my 15 year old is still enthusiastic about theme parks (more Epcott than Disney these days, but still!).

We are living in Germany and the schools here are SO strict about taking your children out of school (that and homeschooling is illegal – bleh!). We didn’t know that there was such a thing as Schulpflicht (the law that doesn’t allow you to take your children out of school for anything but sickness or extremely special circumstances) before we put our little girl in school here. It seems that here laws that are meant to protect children are controlling life, and taking the authority out of the hands of parents, more than protecting children, which is really sad. I know though that in the end it does protect children that wouldn’t otherwise go to school, but still, we feel powerless in some ways. If we wanted to visit family in America or in Israel (where the two sides of our family live) we can only do so during the school breaks. I’ve heard of parents who weren’t not allowed to take children out of school to attend a funeral in another country. If you don’t comply with the Schulpflicht you can be fined or stopped by police if they see you in train stations or airports with your kids in the days before and after the vacation starts and ends.Police state at it’s finest. I didn’t know that things in the States are going in that direction, but from your conversation it seems like it there is not as much freedom as there used to be.

We’ve done lots and lots of Disneyland, one DisneyWorld, and that one was childless. (we live in So. Cal.) I would say that on the one hand there is no age too young. No kid is too young to *Like* the Disney Experience. They get your attention all the time while there, there’s lots to look at, and many many rides are for the whole family, so you aren’t split up too often while someone sits with the baby. There are also baby care centers in each park where you can breastfeed in private, a high chair you can use, short toilets for new potty users, and a place to buy emergency supplies (diapers, pacifiers, babyfood, etc.). The baby care center is always next to First Aid. There are also diaper changing tables in EVERY bathroom, including the men’s room. (Because the line is shorter in the men’s room, daddy almost always changes the diaper at Disneyland!) On the other hand, kids can absolutely be too young to remember, so if it’s your one and only trip, you may want to wait till everyone is old enough to remember.

As for too old… I think most kids tend to take a Disney Break during the high school years. Disney channel, et al., tend to market to the Junior High crowd and younger. So 14-18 year-olds often feel they are “too old” for what Disney offers. On the other hand, once they hit their young adult years, Disney become nostalgic, and it’s all the sudden fun again!!

IMO, the *most* magical age is 7-10. They are tall enough to ride everything, old enough to be able to take a full on day, open to close, and starry-eyed enough to swept into it all. Of course, when you have a family with a spread of ages, not everyone can be *that* age. Just my 2 cents

You GUYS. Spoiler alert! I can’t believe Kristina Braverman has cancer. Sad. (I am watching it all for the first time on Netflix).

Also, I’m the oldest of 5 kids and my mom said we could go to Disney when the youngest was 5. Which meant I was 16. It was actually AWESOME. I got to go off on my own with my sister (who was 15) and I remember it so well. I thought I’d be too old – but not at all!

I went to Disneyland around age 15 and still had a pretty good time. I did feel a little “too cool,” but if you can help your son get over that, I think he would have a blast. Especially being there with all of his brothers.

I’m listening to this episode right now (just discovered your podcast a month or two ago – love it!), and I HAD to look up the show notes to see Hayley’s office. It’s pretty much the same color as my living room (yes, my husband is cool with a pink living room). I love it!